Lens (AFP)

Paris SG and Marseille face each other on Wednesday (8:00 p.m. GMT) in Lens (northern France) for the Champions Trophy, in a "Clasico" embodied by a coaching duel: Mauricio Pochettino wants to launch his mandate, André Villas- Boas win the first OM title in nine years.

Five red cards, the start of a general fight, accusations of racist and homophobic insults, spitting ... On September 13, the two rivals parted ways in a deleterious atmosphere.

"Things have happened which should not happen in football," said Parisian goalkeeper Keylor Navas, not to mention revenge.

Four months later, the New Year's resolutions may have passed by, the atmosphere remains charged with electricity.

These are matches "always hot", noted "AVB", which promises "aggressiveness and intensity".

"It's special, against a rival club. The most important thing is to win. It's also a question of pride," replied "Poche", who has played six as a player, for three wins and two defeats, between 2001 and 2003.

Although they have a title in the sights, Parisians and Marseillais keep an eye to assess their opponent, at the dawn of the 99th "Clasico" of French football.

But on the pitch, neither team can look down on the other.

- Neymar available -

Winner of the last seven editions, PSG is going through a period of reconstruction under the leadership of its new technician Pochettino, who is looking for the right strategy to "win in style".

Neymar's return, available after a month's absence due to an ankle injury, is good news for the spectacular football he has promised, but he has no margin: his team have just completed his worst Championship leg in four years.

If he has not won a trophy since the Coupe de la Ligue 2012, Marseille pocketed the "Clasico" in September (1-0), his first in nine years, proving that the years of famine were perhaps over for its American owner Frank McCourt, who arrived in 2016.

"The norm is that PSG wins all national competitions. So we don't have this pressure to be forced to win. It's not OM's fault, it's the reality of the championship. more unbalanced in the world ", assured Villas-Boas, to sweep away growing expectations.

But since his signing in 2019, the Portuguese has exploded the barriers one by one: it was he who brought OM back to the Champions League after seven years of absence and who led him to his first podium in L1. since 2013.

All that's missing is a trophy for the charismatic technician, who is reflecting on the follow-up to his contract expiring in June 2021.

- Pocket-AVB, shock of styles -

If he is less talkative than the Marseillais, Pochettino, always very careful in his statements, shares with AVB a certain aura with the fans, who have not forgotten his time at PSG as a player.

Their career is also linked by Tottenham, where "Poche" took the place, in May 2014, of Villas-Boas five months after his dismissal.

But the Argentinian is only just starting out in his new Parisian adventure, where his first two matches were above all a reminder that he would need time to impose his paw.

“I don't see too much difference at the moment, it's a team based on individualities. There have been changes in the set pieces, in the way of defending. It's the biggest difference that I wrote down. The rest comes with time, but the problem for Pochettino is that he has no time, "Villas-Boas remarked.

Indeed, "Pocket" must absolutely win to launch his mandate ... and open his record as a coach, he who has won nothing during his visits to Espanyol Barcelona, ​​Southampton and Tottenham.

Their duel spices up a "Clasico" that the star players, them, approach in very average forms: Kylian Mbappé and Florian Thauvin are struggling to finish, Dimitri Payet started on the bench the last two matches, Neymar is not 100% ... But if a spark was needed to launch their year 2021, now is the opportunity.

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